Jewish Population In Yesha Set to Pass 350,000 in 2012

The Jewish population in Judea and Samaria soared to 342,000 last year, a yearly increase of 4.3 percent. For 2012, 350,000 an easy mark.

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

First Publish: 1/15/2012, 11:49 AM

Samaria (Shomron) students start new year

Shomron Regional Council

The Jewish population in Judea and Samaria soared to 342,414 last year, a yearly increase of 4.3 percent, and the 350,000 figure is all but certain to be passed this year.

The numbers, stated by the Interior Ministry and reported by the Hebrew-language Yisrael HaYom newspaper, are higher than the 300,000 estimate used by most mainstream news agencies.

There are also an estimated 250,000-300,000 Jews in Jerusalem neighborhoods that are claimed by the Palestinian Authority for its desired new country within Israel’s borders.

Population figures are less precise for the Arab population in Judea and Samaria and areas in Jerusalem that the Palestinian Authority claims. Using the Palestinian Authority estimate of 2.4 million, a number that may be largely inflated, Jews now make up approximately 22 percent of the total population.

The actual percentage may be substantially higher because the World Bank and American-Israeli Demographic Research Group identified a 32 percent discrepancy between first-grade enrollment statistics documented by the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, according to Wikipedia.

The true figure may be only slightly over 1.6 million Arabs, which would raise the Jewish percentage to closer to 25 percent.

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has said that a PA state would be devoid of Jews. The Arab population of areas in the capital and in Judea and Samaria is estimated at 2.4 million. The presence of 650,000 Jews represents approximately 22 percent of the total population.

The figures for the Jewish population do not include thousands of students from urban centers who are learning in high schools and post-high school institutions in the region.